Astros spoil Charlie Morton's gem in loss to Rays

ST PETERSBURG, FL - JULY 1: Charlie Morton #50 of the Houston Astros throws a pitch in the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 1, 2018 at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

ST PETERSBURG, FL - JULY 1: Charlie Morton #50 of the Houston Astros throws a pitch in the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 1, 2018 at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio

ST PETERSBURG, FL - JULY 1: Charlie Morton #50 of the Houston Astros throws a pitch in the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 1, 2018 at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

ST PETERSBURG, FL - JULY 1: Charlie Morton #50 of the Houston Astros throws a pitch in the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 1, 2018 at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Charlie Morton warranted such a better result, his heroic effort against a plucky lefthanded ace squandered by a moment of ineptitude and a prolonging of offensive frustration.

The Astros loaded the bases with one out in the eighth inning, minutes removed from perhaps their ugliest defensive lapse of the season. They sent the American League's reigning Most Valuable Player up to bat. A man with a major league leading .422 average with runners in scoring position followed.

Neither was successful, none could reward Morton for the gem he spun. Jose Altuve worked a 10-pitch at-bat against Diego Castillo. A wild wave at a cutter in the other batter's box ended it.

Yuli Gurriel grounded to shortstop. His 34-year-old body bounded up the first-base line. Adeiny Hechavarria's throw arrived before he reached. Gurriel removed his helmet and the Astros trudged to their dugout, a 3-2 loss in their immediate future.

They lost a series for the first time since May 28-30. In 14 at-bats with runners in scoring position during this series, they did not record a hit. All seven runs they scored in this series came via home runs.

Evan Gattis struck two solo shots on Sunday, the second a first-pitch missile to lead off the ninth inning. It narrowed the insurmountable deficit to one run.

How the deciding run scored was a moment of mind-numbing confusion.

After Morton allowed a two-out single to leadoff hitter Joey Wendle in the seventh to put two on, manager A.J. Hinch opted for Chris Devenski to counter Matt Duffy.

Devenski offered a 2-2 changeup. Duffy blooped it to right field. It curled just inside the foul line at Reddick's feet. Adeiny Hechavarria — pinch running for Jesus Sucre — scored the tying run from second base.

Reddick grabbed the baseball while Hechavarria rounded third base. Reddick held it and, for some reason, did not throw it into the infield. Wendle did not stop running from first base, scoring the go-ahead run.

Reddick threw up the line to catcher Max Stassi while Wendle was halfway down the third-base line. The winning run was scored.

Evan Gattis bludgeoned a seventh-inning solo shot on Sunday against Blake Snell, seemingly a breakthrough in this battle between the Rays' promising young lefthander and the Astros' reinvented righthanded journeyman.

When Gattis arrived for his third at-bat, neither starter had yielded an extra-base hit. Just two men — one for each team — had touched third base. Eighteen of the 27 outs recorded were strikeouts, fitting for two pitchers who entered the game among the top-15 in baseball.

Morton fanned 11 across 6 ⅔ innings. He allowed five singles, spinning the devastating version of his patented curveball. It dove in toward the back foot of lefthanded hitters and befuddled the righties who tried to catch up with it. All but three of his 11 strikeouts came on it.

Snell's Sunday started with a single by Alex Bregman. Bregman stole second base and scurried to third on the backup catcher Sucre's errant throw. Consecutive strikeouts of Gurriel and Gattis kept him there.

Snell did not allow another man aboard until two were out in the fifth inning. He tossed a four-seam fastball that averaged 95 mph with ample arm-side run, tailing away from the Astros' righthanded-heavy order.

His 1oth strikeout came against Jake Marisnick on a spiked breaking ball. Wilson Ramos, just into the game after Sucre was pinch run for in the seventh, could not catch it.

Marisnick motored to first base as the tying run. Tony Kemp dribbled an infield single up the first-base line, adding the go-ahead score.

A five-pitch walk to Bregman ended Snell's scintillating afternoon. He departed with the bases loaded and Altuve waiting, only for a fate the team knew too well.